Article carrier for automotive vehicles

ABSTRACT

An article carrier is mounted on an exterior automobile body surface. The carrier utilizes special decorative slats for supporting the weight of luggage or the like and also as a means for mounting cross bars, ski racks or tie-down members and similar article securing devices on the automobile body. The devices mounted on the slats are easily removed, interchanged or adjusted in position on the slats in accordance with the needs of the user.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 242,138, filed Mar. 9,1981, now abandoned which is a Cont. of Ser. No. 56,373, filed July 10,1979 abandoned; which is a Div. of Ser. No. 924,072, filed July 7, 1978,now U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,471; which is a Div. of Ser. No. 743,602, filedNov. 22, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,658; which is a Cont. of Ser. No.486,415; filed July 8, 1974, abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automobile luggage racks frequently employ two separate subassemblies orportions: a rectangular framework which surrounds the load to be carriedand a plurality of slats which rest on the roof or other automobile bodysurface and carry the weight of the load. In such constructions theframework and the slats are often secured to the automobile bodyindependently of one another or the slats are connected to the bodythrough the framework by means of special cross straps. In still anotherautomobile luggage or article carrier, the means of confining theluggage and supporting its weight are formed into one unitary weldedtubular assembly.

Some luggage racks or article carriers have been designed to be securedon an automobile body by flexible straps or the like and are relativelyeasily removable from the automobile. Such carriers, however, have notenjoyed great popularity. They have generally been quite unsightly andtheir bulk and weight have made their removal and storage ratherdifficult. Accordingly, most automobile owners desiring a luggage rackhave favored the type of luggage rack which is permanently mounted onthe vehicle. The one type of article carrier of the removable type whichis in common use is a so-called "ski rack." Ski racks have traditionallybeen somewhat awkward to install on and remove from an automobile. Also,the presence of a luggage rack on an automobile has frequentlyinterferred with the use of a ski rack.

In my prior U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,539, I disclosed a luggage carrierhaving cross bars which can be adjusted to accommodate loads of varyingsize. This construction has achieved significant commercial success.Nevertheless, some problems have been experienced in adapting this typeof luggage carrier to the carrying of certain types of loads, includingskis. While this type of carrier does provide an improved degree offlexibility in its use, it is believed that a need exists for a luggagerack which has the attractive appearance of modern permanently mountedluggage carriers but which possess a degree of removability and greateradaptability to varying loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is distinguished by its use of speciallyconstructed load supporting slats which also provide the means ofattachment of the article securing member to the automobile body. Sucharticle securing member may consist of a rectangular framework, raisedcross bars, ski racks, tie-down members or any other desired articlesecuring device. The slats are decorative in appearance and perform theusual slat functions of reinforcing the roof, trunk lid or other bodysurface on which they are mounted and holding luggage or other objectsto be carried out of contact with the painted finish of the automobile.However, they serve the added function of providing an attachmentlocation for one or more article securing members. The slats maintain alow profile on the automobile surface and are designed to be left on theautomobile by themselves without any remaining portion of the carrier,if desired. Special end caps may be used to cover up the ends of theslats. These end caps may incorporate eyelets by which straps or ropescan be attached to the automobile for tying down luggage.

In one form of the invention the slats are formed with upwardly facingchannels in which a nut is slidable. The means of attachment of thearticle securing member to the slat includes a screw which is threadedinto the nut so as to draw the nut against a clamping surface of theslat. The slat is of greater width than height, providing a broadarticle supporting surface. These surfaces may be used cooperativelywith the clamping surfaces of the slats for locking an article securingmember in place.

Among the objects of the present invention are the provision of anarticle carrier for an automobile in which all portions of the articlecarrier which project to any appreciable degree above the body surfaceon which it is mounted may be conveniently removed, adjusted inposition, interchanged and/or reinstalled. It is another object of thepresent invention to provide an article carrier of the foregoing typewhich is adapted for use with a wide variety of article securing memberssuch as a ski rack, a cross bar, an article confining framework,tie-down eyelets and the like. It is still another object of the presentinvention to provide an article carrier of the foregoing type whichhelps to protect the finish of the automobile body, is attractive inappearance, structurally reinforces the surface of the automobile bodyto which it is secured, may be manufactured at a reasonable cost and ishighly convenient to use and is readily adapted to carrying a widevariety of loads.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an automobile showing anarticle carrier mounted thereon which is constructed in accordance withthe principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a portion of thestructure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 1 taken along the line 3--3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 3 takenalong the line 4--4 thereof;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 takenalong the line 5--5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5 takenalong the line 6--6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 1 taken along the line 7--7 thereof;

FIG. 8 is a view of structure similarly illustrated in FIG. 7 showing amodified form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 8 takenalong the line 9--9 thereof;

FIG. 10 is a view of structure similarly illustrated in FIG. 7 showingstill another form of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of structure similarly illustrated in FIG. 7showing a still further form of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the cross bar removed and apair of ski carriers installed on the slats;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 12 taken along the line 13--13 thereof;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of thepresent invention illustrating an alternative slat construction and analternative method of attaching an article securing member on the slats;

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 14taken along the line 15--15 thereof;

FIG. 16 is a view of structure similarly illustrated in FIG. 14 showinganother modified slat construction and still further arrangement forsecuring the cross bar to the slats;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 16taken along the line 17--17 thereof; and

FIG. 18 is a view of structure similarly illustrated in FIG. 4 showing afurther modified form of the present invention.

Throughout the various modifications of the present invention identicalparts are identified by the same reference numerals.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 depicts an automobile 20 having a trunk lid 22 on which aremounted a plurality of identical, parallel, transversely spaced slats24. Although the slats 24 are shown mounted on the trunk lid 22, thearticle carrier of the present invention may be mounted with equalutility on an automobile roof or any other generally horizontal exteriorbody portion of an automobile. Interposed between the slats 24 and thetrunk lid 22 are elastomeric mounting pads 26 on which flat bottomsurfaces 27 of the slats rest. The slats 24 are secured on the trunk lid22 by means of sheet metal screws 30 which also pass through themounting pads 26. Mounted on a pair of the slats 24 is a raised tubularcross bar 32 which is fitted at its opposite ends onto brackets 34. Acylindrical boss 58 on each bracket 34 is held in an end of the bar 32by a screw 60. Each bracket 34 rests on a broad upwardly facingsupporting surface 36 on the top of one of the slats 24. The surface 36is interrupted by an upwardly open dove-tail shaped groove 38 extendingthe length of each slat 24. Extruded plastic trim members 28 arefrictionally fitted in the channels 38 of the slats 24, one trim member28 being broken away in FIG. 1 for illustrative purposes. It will beseen that the groove or channel 38 is wider at its bottom than at itstop to define upwardly and inwardly inclined clamping surfaces 40.Conformably but slidably fitted within the channel 38 of various slats24 are one or more nuts 42 of dove-tailed cross sectional shape. Thenuts 42 have upwardly and inwardly inclined surfaces 44 whichconformably engage the clamping surfaces 40 of the slats 24. A screw 46is illustrated in FIG. 2 as passing through the bracket 34 from the topthereof into threaded engagement with a nut 42. The screw 46 is formedwith an enlarged head 48 which may be manually gripped for thetightening and loosening of the screw 46. When the screw 46 istightened, its associated nut 42 is drawn upwardly into clampingengagement with the channel clamping surfaces 40. This action also drawsthe bracket 34 down against the supporting surfaces 36, locking thebracket 34 firmly in place on its slat 24.

One or both ends of each of the slats 24 is fitted with a decorative endcap 50 having a dove-tail shaped tongue 52 fitted into the end of thechannel 38. Each tongue 52 has a tapped hole 54 for the reception of asetscrew 56. When the setscrew 56 is tightened, its pointed end bearsagainst the bottom of the channel 38 to lock the end cap 50 to its slat24.

Possible rotation of the brackets 34 relative to the slats 24 isprevented by the formation of a dove-tail shaped boss 61 on the bottomof each bracket 34. Each boss 61 is conformably fitted within thechannel 38 of its slat 24 as shown in FIG. 3. The nut 42 and boss 61being longitudinally spaced, the bracket 34 is thereby kept fromrotating about a vertical axis.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate still another form of article securing memberwhich is shown in FIG. 1 mounted on the outer slats 24. This articlesupporting member is in the form of a tie-down member 62 having aneyelet 64 for the reception of a rope, strap or other device intended totie-down luggage on the slats 24. The tie-down member 62 has a dove-tailtongue 66 which is conformably fitted in the channel 38 of its slat 24.The tie-down member 62 is further provided with a peripheral ledge 68surrounding the tongue 66 and resting on the slat supporting surface 36.A screw 70 passes through the tie-down member 62 into threadedengagement with a nut 42 by means of which the tie-down member may beclamped in any desired position along the length of its slat 24.

Another tie-down member 72 is illustrated in detail in FIG. 7 as beinglocated at one or more ends of selected slats 24. Each tie-down member72 has an eyelet 74 adapted to receive rope, a strap or the like. Ashoulder portion 76 of the tie-down member 72 rests on the slatsupporting surface 36 while a depending tongue 78 of the tie-down member72 is conformably fitted in the channel 38. The tie-down member 72 isclamped into position by a screw 70 and nut 42. From FIG. 7 it will beseen that the tie-down member 72 overlies the tongue 52 of one of theend caps 50 thereby cooperating with the end cap 50 to hide itsretaining means.

FIG. 8 illustrates a modification of the present invention in which amember 80 serves the combined functions of an end cap and tie-down. Themember 80 will be seen to have an upstanding eyelet 82 and a tongue 84which is fitted within the channel 38 of a slat 24. An end wall 86 ofthe member 80 covers the end of the slat 24. A screw 88 has its headexposed to the upper surface of the member 80 and passes through theslat 24, through the subjacent mounting pad 26 and into the trunk lid22. Thus the screw 88 serves the combined function of securing both themember 80 and a slat 24 on the automobile.

FIG. 10 illustrates still another form of the present invention in whichan end member 90 has a raised eyelet 92 and is held in place on a slat24 by means of a setscrew 94 bearing against the bottom of the channel38. The screw 94 is threaded into an opening in a dove-tail shapedtongue 96 of the member 90 closely fitted in the channel 38. An end wall98 of the member 90 covers the slat 24 at the one end thereof providinga smooth decorative end finish to the slat 24. The slat 24 illustratedin FIG. 10 is secured on the trunk lid 22 by means of an adhesive strip100. The strip 100 is provided with adhesive on both sides thereof andtakes the place of screws for holding the slat in place on the trunk lid22.

FIG. 11 illustrates the use of a tie-down member 102 having an eyelet104. A dove-tail shaped tongue 106 of the member 102 is fitted in thechannel 38 of the slat 24. The tie-down member 102 is secured in placeon the slat 24 by means of a screw 70 and nut 42. The tie-down member102 is used in cooperation with an end cap member 108 which underliesthe rear portion of the tie-down member 102 and has a slat covering endwall 110. The end cap 108 has a dove-tail tongue 112 fitted in thechannel 38 and held in place by a sheet metal screw which passes throughthe slat 24 at the bottom of the channel 38 and into the trunk lid 22.

It will be readily apparent that the cross bar 32 and its mountingbrackets 34 are easily removed from the slats 24 by the simpleunthreading of the screws 46. This can be done for the purpose ofinstalling another type of article securing device on the slats 24 andthe nuts 42 will remain in the slats 24 for that purpose. FIG. 12illustrates the slats 24 on the trunk lid 22 but with the cross bar 32removed and a pair of ski rack clamps 116 installed on the outermostslats 24. The clamps 116 are of identical construction and include alower supporting bar 118 to which is pivoted an upper clamping bar 120.The lower bar is fitted to a slat 24 through a pair of adapters 122resting on the slat supporting surface 36. A cushion 124 is frictionallyheld on the top of the lower bar 118 through a spring clip 130 while apair of screws 128 pass through the lower bar 118 and adapters 122 intothreaded engagement with a pair of nuts 42. The heads of the screws 128are normally covered by the cushion 124. The upper clamping bar 120carries a rubber bumper 126 which is adapted to clamp the skis to becarried against the cushion 124. The bumper 126 is secured to the upperclamping bar 120 by means of screws 134 which also hold pole retainingclips 132 on the top of the upper clamping bar.

It will be seen that a single ski rack clamp 116 is mounted on a singleslat 24. It will therefore be apparent that any article securing memberto be utilized in conjunction with an article carrier of the presentinvention may be positioned entirely on a single slat 24 or on two oreven more of the slats 24.

The removal of the ski rack clamps 116 is accomplished by simply pullingthe cushion 124 out of each lower bar 118 and unthreading the screws128. The ski carriers are, thus, easily detached from the vehicle andstored when not being used. In order to prevent the skis and/or skicarrier clamps 116 from being stolen when in use, the clamps may beprovided with locks in the well known manner. Such locks keep the upperclamping bar 120 from being opened relative to the lower bar 118. Solong as this is prevented, access to the heads of the screws 128 isprecluded, thereby preventing the removal of the ski carriers 116 fromthe vehicle.

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a somewhat modified form of slat 136 whichwill be seen to be used in connection with a bracket 138 for supportinga cross bar 32. The slat 136 is positioned on a rubber mounting pad 140and is provided with downwardly facing clamping surfaces or shoulders142 running along the opposite sides thereof. The shoulders 142 areraised with respect to a flat bottom surface 144 of the slat 136. Anupwardly facing groove 146 is formed in a broad load supporting surface147 on the top of the slat 136. A hardened seat 148 is positioned withinthe groove 146 for cooperation with a screw 150 threaded through thebracket 138. The screw 150 has an enlarged head 152 which may be grippedto rotate the screw into clamping engagement with the seat 148. Thebracket 138 has a channel 149 on its lower surface and receives a slat136. A pair of inturned lips formed on the opposite sides of the channelare drawn up against the clamping shoulders 142 to secure the bracket138 in place on the slat 136 when the screw 150 is tightened. It willthus be apparent that the clamping surfaces of a slat of the presentinvention need not be necessarily located within a channel formed in theslat but may be located exteriorly of the slat.

Another form of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17which makes use of exterior slat clamping surfaces. FIGS. 16 and 17 showa slat 154 used in cooperation with a bracket 156. The slat 154 has aflat bottom 158 resting on a mounting pad 140. The slat 154 is alsoformed with a load supporting top surface 160, although the bracket 156does not rest on the supporting surface 160. As seen in FIG. 17 thebracket 156 is formed in two parts: 156a and 156b. These two partsdefine inwardly projecting rails 164 which are received in externalgrooves 162 running longitudinally along the opposite sides of the slat154. When the two halves 156a and 156b are drawn together by means of ascrew 166, the rails 164 are caused to clampingly engage in the grooves162 and secure the bracket 156 in a selected position.

The slats illustrated in the foregoing embodiments of the invention aredesirably manufactured as aluminum extrusions and are of substantiallyuniform cross sectional shape. The slats of the present invention arenot necessarily made as extrusions, however. Another form of slat 170 isillustrated in FIG. 18 which is made from a roll formed steel. The slat170 will be seen to have a flat bottom wall 172, upwardly inclinedsidewalls 174 defining interior clamping surfaces and upper supportingsurfaces 176. The slat 170 defines an upwardly open channel 178 withinwhich a nut 180 is positioned. FIG. 18 illustrates the use of the slat170 in conjunction with the bracket 34. The slat 170 is used andfunctions in a manner similar to the slat 24.

It will be apparent that it is not necessary to keep the cross bar 32and its supporting bracket 34 or the ski rack clamps 116 on the slats.Any such raised article securing members may be left off the vehicleunless desired for a particular purpose. The removal of such members maybe desired to prevent interference with the functioning of an automaticcar wash machine, for appearance reasons or any other purpose. Thevarious tie-downs illustrated herein are of very low height and arequite inconspicuous. Leaving them on the carrier has little influence oneither the appearance of the carrier or its use for any other purpose.

It will be apparent that the slats 24, 136, 154 and 170 illustratedherein may be utilized for the mounting of a wide variety of articlesecuring members and their use is not limited to the particular articlesecuring members illustrated herein. For example, a complete rectangularframework of four bars can be mounted on the slats instead of the singlecross bar 32. Such a framework would use four brackets 34, with twobrackets mounted on each of two slats. Specific article securing devicescan be designed for various other objects a car owner might wish tocarry (e.g., small boats, golf club bags, etc.). The installation andremoval of all such devices is easily accomplished without drillingspecial holes or in any way detracting from the appearance of the car.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article carrier for an automobile having ahorizontally extending exterior body surface including a plurality ofparallel slats fixedly secured on said horizontally extending exteriorbody surface and lying closely against said surface in a low profileconfiguration, said slats having a generally horizontal transversecross-sectional width greater than its cross-sectional vertical height,each said slat having an upper article supporting surface, and end capmeans including integral tie down means directly fixedly secured to saidbody surface and cooperable with said slats to restrain articlesdisposed on said slats out of contact with said body surface.
 2. Anarticle carrier in accordance with claim 1, wherein said end cap meansfurther comprises abutment means for articles disposed on the upperarticle supporting surfaces of said slats.
 3. In an article carrier foran automobile,a plurality of at least two parallel arranged slatsfixedly secured on a generally horizontally extending exterior bodysurface of the automobile and lying closely against said surfacepresenting a low profile configuration on said surface, each of saidslats being decorative and also having major and minor transversedimensions, with said major dimension being arranged substantiallyparallel to said body surface and said minor dimension being arrangedsubstantially perpendicular to said body surface whereby the tops ofsaid slats are substantially flat and parallel to said horizontalsurface to provide an upper article horizontally arranged supportingsurface adapted to have articles supported directly thereupon, and apair of side surfaces extending generally between said articlesupporting surface and said body surface, at least one of said sidesurfaces being provided with a clamping portion extending longitudinallyand continuously along substantially the entire length thereof so as tobe arranged on one lateral side of said supporting surface, end capmeans directly fixedly secured to said body surface and cooperable withsaid slats, and an article supporting member mounted on one of saidslats and having clamping means clampingly engageable with said clampingportion on said side surface of said slat for securing said memberthereto, said clamping means being readily loosened for the continuouslongitudinal adjustment of said member longitudinally of said slats andfor the removal and reattachment of said article supporting member. 4.The invention as set forth in claim 3 which includes at least oneintermediate slat disposed between and extending parallel to saidfirst-mentioned two parallel arranged slats, and which further includesend cap means fixedly secured to at least one end of each of said slatsand cooperable therewith for securing articles upon said articlecarrier.
 5. The invention as set forth in claim 4 wherein said end capmeans associated with each of said slats are disposed at the samelongitudinal ends of said slats.
 6. The invention as set forth in claim5 wherein said end cap means are secured to the forward longitudinalends of each of said slats.
 7. The invention as set forth in claim 6wherein at least one of said intermediate slats is provided with end capmeans at both the forward and rearward ends thereof.
 8. The invention asset forth in claim 4 wherein the height of the upper surface of said endcap means is disposed approximately the same distance above saidexterior body surface as said supporting surfaces of the associated pairof said slats.
 9. The invention as set forth in claim 4 which furthercomprises a plurality of three intermediate slats disposed between andarranged generally parallel to said first mentioned slats.
 10. Theinvention as set forth in claim 3 wherein said exterior body surfaces ofthe automobile comprises the upper surface of the automobile trunk.